Mimicry in Insects (19th century; restoration by Ptera Hunter, 2020). This plate contains different mimicking insects. Plates like these challenged the 19th century reader to find as many of the creatures as possible, thus discovering their various deceptions. Check it out and see how many you see before scrolling down to the key. challenged theContinue reading “Mimicry in Insects: A Victorian Print signed H. Morin”
Tag Archives: Ptera Hunter
An Intelligent Spider?
When we think about animal geniuses, arthropods don’t usually top the list of usual suspects. However, one genus of jumping spiders, Portia, includes spiders who have a gift: they can devise hunting strategies and make decisions. Portia makes their livings by hunting other spiders. These eight-legged geniuses do not simply attack; they appear to makeContinue reading “An Intelligent Spider?”
Wasps!
Most of us have an innate suspicion that wasps are ill-tempered beasts that hunt you down like a dog. Not true. Most wasps will not wasp harm you. Many are helpful creatures, and most are beautiful. Many attack crop pests. Only a fraction of wasps are the social wasps that defend themselves with venom. MostContinue reading “Wasps!”
Remembering Ravensbrück
Ravensbrück served as a Nazi concentration camp exclusively for women. An estimated 130,000 women were interned there during the Nazi era, and between 30,000 and 50,000 women died there. It was one of the smaller camps. That did not make it any less horrific. There, women were used like horses, pulling heavy equipment. With sheerContinue reading “Remembering Ravensbrück”
Water Troubles
The Colorado River Is In Trouble. The great river of the American West has headwaters in the marshes created by the snow-melts at La Poudre Pass (Colorado). Soon afterwards, the water diversion projects begin. These water fields and provide life to communities. Before leaving the Coyote Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park (also Colorado), aboutContinue reading “Water Troubles”
Oral Histories
Three are lots of oral histories collected from older people before they pass. The stories and events that one generation takes as granted become the history for the next. Here are a few oral history sites–some simple, some more in-depth–that might interest you. Library of Congress, Voices of Slaves Society of American Archivists: Oral HistoriesContinue reading “Oral Histories”
The Light Benders
Insects produce their amazing array of colours in two different ways. The first is through chemical pigments. The other, and I think more interesting way, is through bending light. These colours result from light interacting with the physical structure of the surface. These structures absorb or scatter light and allow the insects to create aContinue reading “The Light Benders”
Passive Aggression Can Be Fun
OK, so this particular set of passive aggressive images is technically not really lying or deceit, but, in the the trickster, they are lots of fun. I think Loki would approve. Remember, deceit isn’t just about lying, it’s about what is said, what is left unsaid, and twists in understanding. Yes, Loki would definitely approveContinue reading “Passive Aggression Can Be Fun”
New Documentary Takes a Tough Look At The Impact of Climate Change on Civilizations
If you’ve got Netflix and steady nerves, you may want to watch the new documentary from David Attenborough, Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet. Where Silent Consent gives a fictive dystopian view of a world after our environmental apocalypse, Breaking Boundaries provides a basis for understanding what is happening now and what we needContinue reading “New Documentary Takes a Tough Look At The Impact of Climate Change on Civilizations”
Who were the “Greatest Generation”
We give this moniker to the generation born roughly between 1901 and 1927. These were the people whose youths and young adult lives were shaped by the Great Depression, Dust Bowl, and the Second World War. Theirs was a generation shaped by the emergence of Hollywood movies, the rise in popularity of comic books, andContinue reading “Who were the “Greatest Generation””
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